Sir, – Finn McRedmond’s call for an Irish Joe Rogan (Opinion & Analysis, November 14th) is dismissed by Prof John Hogan (Letters, November 15th) who highlights the American shock jock’s “pitiful epistemic standards”.
Such de haute en bas criticism of the world’s most popular podcaster confirms Finn McRedmond’s argument that a gulf exists between establishment voices and the feelings of the electorate. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair,
Blindboy: ‘I left my first day of school feeling great shame. The pain of that still rises up in me’
What time is the Katie Taylor v Amanda Serrano fight? Irish start time, Netflix details and all you need to know
Gladiator II review: Don’t blame Paul Mescal but there’s no good reason for this jumbled sequel to exist
Spice Village takeaway review: Indian food in south Dublin that will keep you coming back
Co Dhún na nGall.
Sir, – Finn McRedmond’s most recent column provides a good example of the “You can’t say anything anymore” paradox. This is where an opinion is declared as in some way off-limits, by someone who then proceeds to express that opinion, often in the same sentence.
McRedmond, who has a regular column with The Irish Times, highlights a need for greater pushback against liberal and left-wing orthodoxy. Elon Musk, who is the richest person in the world, joined that pushback when he bought a large social media site with the stated aim of promoting more right-wing opinions. McRedmond also describes Joe Rogan, who is the most highly-paid and popular podcaster in the world, as an “everyman”, pushing back against mainstream narratives.
People who host podcasts, own social media sites and write newspaper columns are not pushing against the mainstream: they are the mainstream. Off-limits opinions have never been more popular.
Where I do agree with Finn McRedmond is that cultural debates for too long have diverted us from the material issues which shape our lives, such as the health system, employment rights, and the housing crisis. It is to these causes we should direct our energy. – Yours, etc,
Dr DOMHNALL McGLACKEN-BYRNE,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Finn McRedmond’s article “Ireland needs its own Joe Rogan, someone to question liberal orthodoxies” portrays Rogan as a non-partisan, open-minded guy relentlessly pursuing the truth and debunking mainstream media “orthodoxies”.
Would Finn McRedmond really have come to the same conclusion if she managed to sit through Rogan’s 3½-hour interview with Donald Trump, in which Rogan scarcely challenges – almost sycophantically agrees, in most cases – Mr Trump on any of the false claims he makes about the 2020 election and the January 6th riots? At one point he lauds praise on Mr Trump for promising to assign RFK jnr as secretary of health. We all know Joe Rogan is a great podcaster and interviewer, but is he really the paragon of scepticism and independent thinking we need? I don’t know. I’m just asking questions. – Yours, etc,
KEVIN FANNING,
Dublin.